Apologies for the cross post, but wanted to share this with the community:
Hi everyone,
I wanted to let you know that the Copyright Office is seeking comments on
rules that should make it easier for people to make noncommercial uses of
pre-1972 sound recordings that aren't being commercially exploited.
https://www.copyright.gov/rulemaking/pre1972-soundrecordings-noncommercial/
Comments were filed on November 26, and now there's an opportunity to
respond to those comments by December 11.
The Copyright Office is looking for public input on rules it must create
under the Music Modernization Act (MMA), which was signed into law last
month. (We called attention to the threats that earlier versions MMA posed
to the public domain; the passed compromise version contains provisions
that actually improve
<https://www.publicknowledge.org/news-blog/blogs/the-new-music-modernization-act-mostly-finally-gets-it-right>
the
status quo in the public domain in some areas)
One part of the MMA lets a user make a noncommercial use of a sound
recording made before 1972 if they make a "good faith, reasonable search"
of Copyright Office databases and music services that offer a comprehensive
set of sound recordings for sale or streaming. If the user doesn't find the
work on those lists after their reasonable search, they can give notice to
the Copyright Office and wait 90 days to see if a rightsholder comes
forward and objects. If not, they can use the work.
The Copyright Office is writing the rules that define what a "good faith,
reasonable search" is, and it has more specific questions in its initial
notice. (here:
https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2018-10-16/pdf/2018-22516.pdf) Entities
ranging from music industry groups to the Internet Archive have filed
initial comments; (available here:
https://www.regulations.gov/docketBrowser?rpp=25&so=DESC&sb=comment…)
responses to those are due on December 11.
The Wikimedia Foundation may file some short reply comments replying to
some key points made in other submissions, or possibly join other
organizations' comments, depending upon feedback.
I'm posting this to the list because I thought it might be valuable for the
Copyright Office to hear the perspective of community members who upload
pre-1972 sound recordings to Wikimedia Commons, or make other
non-commercial uses of the works. Even if you're not likely to use this
particular provision for Wikimedia Commons yourself (given the
restrictions), it could be useful for them to understand what searching for
sources and availability looks like to a typical user, and not necessarily
someone in the music industry.
You can make those perspectives known by filing comments at
regulations.gov.
Instructions on how to file in this proceeding from the Copyright Office
are here:
https://www.copyright.gov/rulemaking/pre1972-soundrecordings-noncommercial/…
Happy to answer any questions people might have.
Thanks,
Sherwin
--
Sherwin Siy
Senior Public Policy Manager
Wikimedia Foundation